WILKINSON, Morton Smith, a Senator and a Representative from Minnesota; born in Skaneateles, Onondaga
County, N.Y., January 22, 1819; attended the common schools; moved to Illinois in 1837 and was
employed in railroad work two years; returned to Skaneateles in 1840; studied law; admitted to the
bar in 1842 and commenced practice in Eaton Rapids, Mich., in 1843; moved to Stillwater,
Washington County, Minn., in 1847; elected to the first legislature of Minnesota Territory in 1849;
register of deeds of Ramsey County 1851-1853; moved to Mankato in 1858; member of the board
of commissioners to prepare a code of laws for the Territory of Minnesota in 1858; elected as a
Republican to the United States Senate and served from March 4, 1859, to March 3, 1865;
unsuccessful candidate for reelection; chairman, Committee on Revolutionary Claims (Thirty-eighth
Congress); elected as a Republican to the Forty-first Congress (March 4, 1869-March 3, 1871);
unsuccessful candidate for renomination in 1870; moved to Wells, Faribault County; member of the
State senate 1874-1877; prosecuting attorney of Faribault County 1880-1884; resumed the practice
of his profession; died in Wells, Minn., February 4, 1894; interment in Glenwood Cemetery,
Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.